Shortly after World War II, E.I. Du Pont de Nemours Co. was chosen to build and operate a facility called Savannah River Plant.
The news was announced Nov. 28, 1950, and construction of five large nuclear reactors and other defense material factories began immediately.
Nearly 1,500 families in seven communities outside Aiken had 18 months to relocate as the government seized 200,000 acres of forest and farm country for the plant.
Ellenton, Dunbarton, Meyers Mill, Hawthorne, Robbins, Leigh and Sleepy Hollow would soon be gone.
Thousands of high-paying jobs would boost the economies of nearby Aiken and Augusta and in time make locals into some of the nation's most ardent nuclear defense supporters.
Tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States had flared after World War II and put every American on alert. Patriotism and personal sacrifice were each a given.
In June 1951, 8,000 plant workers were on site. In September of the following year, their numbers had surged to 38,600.
From across the Southeast and beyond, people were arriving in Aiken, Barnwell and Allendale counties looking for work.
Many locals joined the plant's work force, amazed to see their cotton fields and peach groves transformed in a matter of a few years.
That legacy continues today, and Savannah River Site, now operated by Westinghouse, is one of the region's top employers.
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